Field of the Invention
[0001] This invention relates to wrap-around article carriers of the type commonly used
to hold soft drink or beer containers. More particularly, it relates to carriers of
this type which are more economical to produce yet function the same.
Background of the Prior Art
[0002] Wrap-around article carriers have been in use for many years and have been developed
to the point where they are a highly efficient and economical carrier, capable of
being formed from blanks at the high speeds required by modern packaging or bottling
facilities. In general, their construction is such that their sides completely enclose
the articles contained in the package excep: for cutouts located to hold the heels
or bases of the articles in place and, where appropriate, to retain the necks of the
articles. The ends of the carrier are open. Finger holes in the top wall of the carrier
permit easy handling by the purchaser. This construction basically supports the bottoms
of the articles and is designed so that the end portions of the carrier blanks, which
join together to form the bottom wall of the carrier, mechanically interlock to provide
a secure construction.
[0003] A competitive carrier is the plastic type that holds the articles in place through
support means engaging the upper portions of the articles. With- this type of carrier
the articles are suspended from the carrier rather than supported by it, as in the
wrap-around design.
[0004] The wrap-around design has several advantages over the cheaper plastic type. The
articles are better protected against breakage due to the fuller coverage afforded
by the wrap-around design. This is important to the bottlers, to store owners and
to the customers. The carriers permit convenient stacking and are easy to handle and
carry. Further, advertising can be printed on the sides of the carriers, which is
important to the producer of the articles being carried.
[0005] In order to continue providing the added advantages of wrap-around carriers it is
important that the industry find ways to reduce costs without adversely affecting
the basic design. This is considerably more difficult than it might first seem. The
general design used throughout the industry is the result of countless improvements
made over the years. This honing of the design has resulted in a carrier the features
of which the industry would be reluctant to change. Certainly changes which would
adversely affect the speed and efficiency of the packaging machines now in use would
not be welcome.
[0006] The dilemma, therefore, is to reduce costs without changing the basic functional
design.
Summary of the Invention
[0007] This invention solves the cost cutting problem not by redesigning the basic carrier
itself but by using a thinner and therefore more economical base material. Because
the material currently used for wrap-around carriers had already been engineered down
to a relatively thin caliper, this produced potentially grave problems. A thinner
material would tend to tear or collapse at the finger holes and at the bottom cutouts
when the filled carrier is lifted. Further, a thinner material would tend to be too
flimsy for the mechanical locking system at the bottom of the carrier to hold together.
The tendency, particularly when the carriers are stored or used in areas of high humidity,
is for the locking tabs to disengage.
[0008] The present invention solves all the above problems by making use of relatively minor
reinforcing, along the length of the blank and at the locking tab area to strengthen
the carrier to the point where it can function properly even though a thinner caliper
material is used. In a preferred embodiment, reinforcing strands are adhered to the
carrier blank at strategic locations and the overlapping end portions of the blank
in the area of the locking tabs are further adhered together.
Brier Description of the Drawings
[0009]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical tilled wrap-around carrier depicting the
general design of carrier in popular use today;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the inside face of a blank used to form a carrier of the
type shown in FIG. 1, but containing reinforcing in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the outer faces of the two end portions of the blank of FIG.2
as they would appear just prior to being mechanically interlocked; and
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the outer faces of the same two end portions shown in FIG.
3, but now in their locked position.
Description of the Invention
[0010] Referring to FIG. 1, a typical wrap-around carrier 10 of the general type to which
this invention relates is comprised of side walls 12 connected to a top wall 14 by
sloped portions 16. The sloped portions are integral with the top and side walls and
are foldably connected thereto. This allows for articles of a generally uniform shape
to be carried but permits the shape or the placement within the carrier to vary to
a small degree. In the illustrated carrier 10, soft drink bottles are shown as fitting
securely in the space provided between the side walls 12 and sloped portions 16. Neck
retainers 18 consisting of folded flaps concentrically arranged around openings in
the top wall 14 serve to hold the necks of the bottles in place. Finger holes, now
shown, would be located in the top wall 14 to permit the carrier to be readily lifted.
The bottom wall 20 is formed by the joined or locked end portions of the carrier blank,
and heel cutouts 21 are provided to receive the outer base or bottom portion of the
bottles to help hold them in place. This overall design is typical of both the prior
art carriers and the carrier of the present invention.
[0011] Referring to FIG. 2, a blank 22 of generally rectangular shape, comprised of generally
parallel long edges 23 and generally parallel short edges 25, is used to form the
carrier 10 shown in FIG. 1. The intermediate portions of the blank corresponding to
side walls 12, central portion of the blank corresponding to top wall 14, and the
sloped portions 16 are correspondingly numbered in this view and can be seen to be
connected to each other by fold lines 13 and 15. It should be understood that although
the sloped wall portion 16 is described herein it is not essential to the invention
that it be present. For purposes of the invention the sloped portion can just as readily
be considered as part of the top wall or side wall or it can even be considered as
comprising part of the foldable connection between the top and side walls.
[0012] Neck retainers 18 are shown in top wall 14 for use when the articles being packaged
are bottles. Tabs 27 are cut out along the solid border 24 and are adapted to be punched
out and folded along the inner facing fold lines 26 by the purchaser to form finger
holes. The heel cutouts 21 are also shown on the blank.
[0013] End portions 28 and 30 of the blank 22 are adapted to overlap each other in the formation
of the carrier and to be mechanically held together by an interlocking tab arrangement.
A typical arrangement is shown in FIG. 2 as consisting of tabs 32 and 34 on the left
side of the blank, and a similar pair of tabs 32a and 34a on the other side. These
are arranged on a score or fold line 36 and are adapted to fit under cutouts 38 or
40 and 38a or 40a. Although any type of locking means that adequately holds the end
portions 28 and 30 together could be used, the type shown is adapted to selectively
use, on the left side, tab 32 and cutout 38 or tab 3
4 and cutout 40, while on the right side either tab 32a and cutout 38a would be engaged
or tab 34a and cutout 40a would be engaged. This permits selectively operable locks
to accommodate different package perimeters, and is described more fully in U.S. Patent
Nos. 3,395,791 and 3,478,951, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0014] The action of the locking tabs is shown further in FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 shows the
end portions 28 and 30 in alignment just prior to being moved into interlocking relationship
and FIG. 4 shows the bottom wall 20 formed from the two end portions, with end portion
28 overlying end portion 30. Although the details of the locking mechanism do not
form a part of this invention, for purpose of clarity it will be understood that one
or more of the operable tabs 32, 3
4 32a and 34a engage the underside of cutouts 38, and 40a, and that further, the scored
ends of tabs 42 and 4
4 fit into openings 46 and 48 to complete the locking mechanism.
[0015] Typically, wrap-around carriers of the prior art have been formed from blanks comprised
of paperboard having a caliper in the approximate range of 23-25 points, where one
point equals 0.001 inch. To reduce the thickness enough to produce a significant economic
benefit, it has been found that two modifications are necessary. Reinforcing strands
50, shown in FIG. 2, are provided, and the end portions 28 and 30 are further adhered
together as shown in FIG. 3 by adhesive layer 52. It has been found that this combination
of strengthening surprisingly allows paperboard having a caliper of only 18-20 points
to be used.
[0016] The strands 50 can be of any material capable of adding reinforcing strength when
adhered to the blank, such as cotton, fiber glass or other synthetic fibers. In practice,
it was found that a cotton/polyester blend sold by H. B. Fuller Co. under the mark
"String King" 1093 worked very well. This material, which is supplied with heat activated
adhesive preapplied to the strands, can be applied directly to the blank stock by
suitable guide and pressure rolls well known in the art and will adhere to the stock
upon exposure to temperatures sufficient to activate the adhesive. In the case of
the H. B. Fuller material, the temperature was about 325
*F. Preferably the strands should be located closely adjacent to the outer heel cutouts,
between the cutouts and the outer edge of the blank.
[0017] The adhesive material 52 which supplements the mechanical locking tabs to hold the
end portions 28 and 30 together to form the bottom wall 14 of the carrier can be any
suitable adhesive which has sufficient bonding strength. The amount of adhesive and
its bonding strength will vary depending on the caliper of the paperboard and the
efficiency of the locking tabs. In practice it has been found that a cold pressure
activated adhesive works well since this would prevent inadvertent adherence of the
adhesive to other surfaces before the blank is formed into the carrier. As an example.
528G adhesive sold by S&R Adhesive Corporation was applied to the outer surface of
the end portions of the carrier flunks and, upon being overlapped by the other end
portions during formation of the carriers, the end portions adhered together due to
the ordinary pressures encountered in the carrier forming process. A heat activated
adhesive of the type which can be printed directly onto the blank stock and then activated
by hot air, for example, would also work well. Obviously, the adhesive could just
as well be applied to the underside of the overlapping end portion instead of to the
outer side of the end portion to be overlapped, or it could be applied to both surfaces
if desired. The amount and type of adhesive used, in any event, must be sufficient
to prevent failure of the mechanical locking system through ordinary use of a carrier
formed from thinner stock than is conventionally used in wrap-around carriers.
[0018] As a further improvement, reinforcing strands 50, as shown in FIG. 2, can also be
applied closely adjacent the inner extremities or fold lines 26 of the carrier finger
holes to prevent crushing of the stock at these stress points. Preferably, the strands
should be located as close as possible to the fold lines forming the inner extremities
of the finger holes. Normally, these strands would not be needed if the caliper of
the stock is at least 20 points. It has been found desirable, however, when paperboard
having a lesser caliper is used, such as in the range of 16-17 points.
[0019] Obviously, different embodiments of the invention, such as specific arrangements
differing in some respects from the foregoing description, may be used without departing
from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
1. An open-ended wrap-around article carrier comprising:
a top wall;
side walls integral with and foldably connected to the top wall;
bottom wall portions integral with and foldably connected to the side walls, the bottom
wall portions having means for structurally interlocking with each other in overlapping
relationship to form a bottom wall;
reinforcing strands adhered to the side walls and bottom wall portions adjacent the
foldable connections therebetween; and
means adhesively connecting the interlocking and overlapping bottom wall portions.
2. A wrap-around article carrier according to Claim 2, wherein the side walls have
cutouts therein adjacent the foldable connections to the bottom wall portions to receive
base portions of the articles being carried.
3. A wrap-around article carrier according to Claim 2, wherein the reinforcing strands
extend generally parallel to the edges of the side walls.
4. A wrap-around article carrier according to Claim 3, wherein the walls are comprised
of paperboard having a caliper of at least 18 points.
5. A wrap-around article carrier according to Claim 4, wherein the reinforcing strands
are continuous strands adhesively connected to the inner surface of the carrier adjacent
the edges forming the open ends of the carrier.
6. A wrap-around article carrier according to Claim 5, wherein the reinforcing strands
are generally parallel to the edges forming the open ends of the carrier and are located
between said edges and the cutout portions.
7. A wrap-around article carrier according to Claim 6, wherein the reinforcing strands
comprise a cotton/polyester blend.
8. A wrap-around article carrier according to Claim 2, wherein the top wall has finger
holes therein and wherein additional reinforcing strands are located adjacent to and
between the finger holes.
9. A wrap-around article carrier according to Claim 8, wherein at least four reinforcing
strands are continuous strands adhesively connected to the inner surface of the carrier,
two of which are located generally parallel to the edges forming the open ends of
the carrier between said edges and the cutout portions, and the other two of which
are parallel to the first two strands and are located adjacent to and between the
finger holes.
10. A wrap-around article carrier according to Claim 9, wherein the walls of the carrier
are comprised of paperboard having a caliper of at least about 16 points.
11. A blank adapted to be folded to form a wrap-around article carrier, comprising:
two generally parallel long edges connected by two generally parallel short edges
to form an elongated generally rectangular shape;
a central portion of the rectangle intended to become the top wall of the carrier,
end portions of the rectangle intended to interlock and form the bottom wall of the
carrier when the blank is folded into carrier shape, and intermediate portions between
the central portion and the end portions intended to become the side walls of the
carrier;
an adhesive coating on at least one of the end portions adapted to adhesively contact
the other end portion when the blank is folded into carrier shape;
the blank having cutouts adjacent the juncture between the intermediate portions and
the end portions, the cutouts being adapted to receive base portions of the articles
to be carried after the blank is folded into carrier shape; and
reinforcing strands located between the cutouts and the long edges and being generally
parallel to the long edges.
12. A blank according to Claim 11, wherein the blank is comprised of paperboard having
a caliper of at least about 18 points.
13. A blank according to Claim 12, wherein the reinforcing strands are continuous
strands adhesively connected to the surface of the blank intended to become the inner
surface of the carrier.
14. A blank according to Claim 13, wherein the reinforcing strands comprise a cotton/polyester
blend.
15. A blank according to Claim 13, wherein the central portion contains means adapted
to become finger holes in the top wall of the carrier and wherein additional reinforcing
strands are located adjacent to and between the finger hole means.
16. A blank according to Claim 15, wherein the additional reinforcing strands comprise
continuous strands adhesively connected to the surface of the blank intended to become
the inner surface of the carrier.
17. A blank according to Claim 15, wherein the blank is comprised of paperboard having
a caliper of at least about 16 points.